Having had a busy couple of weeks early in September, I found myself wondering about the value of networking and doing different things.
Is this what continuing professional development is all about? Making sure we are continually updating our skills, contacts and knowledge to keep ourselves relevant for our jobs and life in general? How can we put an ROI on this activity?
It all started with the North East Marketing Awards judging day- organised by Echo Events it was great to see so many applicants shortlisted for interview and also to see so many senior marketers in one place. I made the acquaintance for the first time of my fellow judges, and we were blown away by the calibre of the shortlist for Rising Star – to be announced at the Awards dinner on 18 October.
That was followed by our CIM Meet with Drinks at the Crowne Plaza. We’re never sure how many people will turn up, but what we do know is that we will meet old contacts, make new ones for our business and that all the participants enjoy networking with each other.
The following week I took part in the Sales v Marketing Debate, at TusPark in Grainger Street. Organised by John Tennant of Converge and compered by James Ealey of NGI Solutions we had a great panel discussion and a broad audience. Collectively it was agreed that to get it into the back of the net you have to have everyone working as a team with the same objectives, and ideally rewards, in mind. Thanks to everyone for all the positive feedback on social media that this attracted.
It turned out to be another busy Thursday (is that a theme?) as CIM also hosted an event at the fab new PROTO building in the Baltic Quarter on Artificial Intelligence. The next morning, I felt compelled to text Pete Daykin (of Daykin and Storey) to thank him as I felt like I’d woken up the next day almost understanding what artificial intelligence was all about. Check out their website for some great case studies.
As the month has progressed, we have had some brilliant contract and course conversions, some of which date back to initial discussions in the autumn of last year. So, I guess the message is while you can’t immediately identify the return on time invested in networking what you do know is that if you are canny and targeted with your time, it will always reap the rewards in the longer term.
Veronica Swindale, Director, Chartered Marketer, FCIM, CIM Ambassador of the North. Whether it's working on your current skill set or exploring a new area of expertise nesma has all your marketing and communication know-how covered.
